DRAINAGE DIFFICULTIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14212, 13 May 1908, Page 2

DRAINAGE DIFFICULTIES

; BETWEEN TWO FIRES. A deputation consisting: of ' Mi' A. J. I Buttcrfield (Mayor of Maori Hill), Cre , Peter Duncan and Clarke, and Mr C. Grater (town clerk) waited upon the Drain- , age Board last night to emphasise tho , necessity for steps being taken by tho ! Drainage Board with regard to tho Borough [■ of Baori Hill. b i. _ Mr, Butterlield. said the. council was not • in possession of. tho, board's iiitentions, and ,' complaints were pouring in'from various | nans of tho borough concerning the .want , of drainage. Not having been, long in the council, he would call upon Mr Duncan f to speak. , Mr Duncan wished the members, of the board to feel that the deputation ■ was not , approaching thorn in any' antagonistic spirit, but the Maori Hill Council was, as . it were, between two fires, It had complaining ratepayers on tho one hand, and j the Drainage Board on the other. The , council forwarded these coinp'laints to the Drainage Board, and then they seemed to - get lost. All tin's lime Hie troubles of tho s borough were becoming intensified. Other . boroughs were Retting relief in this matter , while Maori Hill, in spite of all its efforts, [ was still left to suffer. Of course, they bad watercourses in places but tho trouble was that drainage came when the rain did not, and tho effect was often appalling. , There were cases in existence wherein I people actually had sewage tipped on to , their properties. If tho Oily Council over wont up that way, its members would have [ no difficulty in locating the nuisances that i existed, especially on the slope from Wood- > haugh and in the Woodhaugh Valley. He , and his colleagues would be quite willing 5 to go thoroughly into a discussion of the matter with anyone the board thought fit I to appoint. Mr Clarke endorsed the previous re- : marks, and considered the Maori Hill Council and ratepayers should know what plans had been made by the board, and what they had to expect. . There was one case in which drainage, coming down a natural -watercourse, opened out into a | kind of swamp. Dwellings were situated close by, and the state of affairs was most offensive, especially in summer. Could not the board at any rate make some temporary provision, and fafeguard to an extent the health of the district by discharging litis drainage into the Water of Loith. They did not expect the general 6chcme to be executed in its entirety at onco, but the p-cople of Maori Hill would like to know what plans had been or were being made. The Board's Kngineer (Mr Slinger) pointed out by means of a map the area to ho served by Mr Cardow's plan. • Mr Duncan suggested that tho most urgent oases be dealt with as. soon as possible, and Mr Clarke said that a resident of the borough had offered, if the board took the matter up, lo lay the pipes in his own ground. The Chairman said tho hoard could not disorganise the general scheme, but that it would do what it could. The deputation then thanked the board for its courteous receotioii, and withdrew. =